Scott Bruun: The Next Jack Kemp

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Scott Bruun GoLocalPDX MINDSETTER™

Jack Kemp

It was 1995 and our first trip to Las Vegas. My wife of less than one year was there for a national dental convention she was staffing. Not much of a gambler, I had little interest in going at first. Little interest, that is, until I learned that the convention’s keynote address would be given by none other than my political hero, Jack Kemp.

We’re going to Vegas!

I wanted to make sure we had good seats, so we arrived at the convention hall early. About two hours early. Sitting in the front row, my wife and I were able to enjoy about 90 minutes of uninterrupted conversation – and occasional uncomfortable silence – before the arrival of any other human being. Luckily, I brought along a book to peruse. Jack Kemp’s “An American Renaissance.”

There’s little doubt that sitting in that empty hall, surrounded by 500 or so empty seats, made my new wife wonder what she’d gotten herself into. Gotten herself into with the guy she married, that is.

Finally others arrived - as did Jack Kemp. As we watched and listened to Kemp speak only a few feet from where we were siting, I tried to make sure he could see the book in my hand. You know, make him see it without it seeming like I was trying to make him see it.

Gotta be cool when you meet your hero, right?

But what really made Jack Kemp a hero that day is what he did after his speech. As soon as Kemp finished with his customary “God speed!” closing, hundreds of people – slightly imbibed dentists and hygienists – swarmed the podium. My wife, who was trying to take a photo of me with Kemp, was overwhelmed by the crowd. Yet amid all the people, Kemp saw what was happening, saw my wife’s convention nametag, and with a smile and booming voice said, “Alison, come over here!”

Kemp gave her a hug, made sure we had our photo, then autographed my paperback book. He’d seen it in my hands, all right. As he signed the book, he teased me that I had not marked it up enough with notes and underlining.

We were always Jack Kemp fans. But from that moment on, Alison and I became unwavering “Kemp for President” devotees.

Jack Kemp would never be president, but his legacy endures. A new book by Fred Barnes and Morton Kondracke, “Jack Kemp: The Bleeding-Heart Conservative Who Changed America,” makes the case that Kemp was the most important politician of the 20th century who was not president. The book suggests, convincingly, that Kemp “embodied a spirit sorely missing in today’s politics – in both parties.”

Kemp’s brand of Republicanism was centered on optimism, economic opportunity and social justice. He was a conservative who believed that Republicans should focus a bit more on free-market growth and human prosperity, and a bit less on green eyeshade austerity. He was a Republican who worked his entire career to ensure that his political party would remain, in spirit and deed, the “party of Lincoln.”

Kemp was a partisan for sure, but never toxic. He was highly critical of statist and high-tax policies from the Democratic Party, but never made it personal with Democrats themselves. Kemp viewed Democrats the same way he viewed players from other teams during his years as a NFL quarterback. Namely, as opponents not enemies. In this regard, Kemp was much like those very rare partisan leaders, leaders like Reagan and JFK, who transcended partisanship.

During this season of presidential politics nationally, gubernatorial and legislative elections here in Oregon, and Republican branding in general, there will be some question of “who’s the next Jack Kemp?”

This is the wrong question.

There will never be another Jack Kemp, just like there will never be another Ronald Reagan or Jack Kennedy. Here at home, there will never be another Mark Hatfield or Vic Atiyeh. The longer we spend looking for the next Jack Kemp, or “the next” anyone else for that matter, the longer we will be disappointed.

Instead, we should be looking for leaders “who can.” Leaders who can best communicate and deliver an agenda of growth and opportunity. Leaders who can best promote American progress and self-confidence. Leaders who can best defend American interests.

Leaders who can do much of the same for Oregon, too.

We don’t need the next Jack Kemp. Instead, we need leaders who believe in America and the American people as much as Jack Kemp did. Leaders who, like Kemp, believe in growth and economic opportunity. Leaders who are inclusive, optimistic, and willing to do the hard work necessary to find solidarity among disparate ideas and diverse peoples.

It’s not the next Jack Kemp. Instead, it’s a positive vision for the next America. A positive vision for the next Oregon. That’s Jack Kemp’s real legacy.

Scott Bruun is a fifth-generation Oregonian and recovering politician. He lives with his family in the 'burbs', yet dutifully commutes to Portland every day where he earns his living in public affairs with Hubbell Communications.

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